John J. Jacob (West Virginia)
| John J. Jacob | |
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Portrait of Governor John Jeremiah Jacob
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| 4th Governor of West Virginia | |
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In office March 4, 1871 – March 4, 1877 |
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| Preceded by | William E. Stevenson |
| Succeeded by | Henry M. Mathews |
| Member of the West Virginia House of Delegates | |
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In office 1868 1893 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 9, 1829 Green Spring, Virginia (now West Virginia) |
| Died | November 24, 1893 (aged 63) Wheeling, West Virginia |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Baird Jacob |
| Profession | Politician |
John Jeremiah Jacob (December 9, 1829 – November 24, 1893) was a Democratic politician from Green Spring (Hampshire County), West Virginia. Jacob served two terms as the fourth Governor of the U.S. state of West Virginia. John Jeremiah Jacob was also elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates from Hampshire County in 1868 and from Ohio County in 1893.
John Jeremiah Jacob was born in Green Spring, Virginia on the Potomac River, north of Romney Jacob's Hampshire County roots made him the first of West Virginia's governors to be born within the present-day borders of the state. Jacob attended the Romney Academy in Romney and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Jacob practiced law and taught school in Hampshire County before accepting a teaching position at the University of Missouri in 1853. In 1858, he married Jane Baird. Jacob worked as an attorney in Missouri during the American Civil War and returned to Romney after the war in 1865 to establish a law practice. In 1868, John Jeremiah Jacob was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates.
Jacob was elected governor in 1870 to a two-year term making him the first of six consecutive Democratic governors. Jacob supported the elimination of all remaining legislation that discriminated against former Confederates. Jacob also presided over the establishment of new facilities to care for the mentally handicapped and the creation of statewide schools, known as normal schools, to train teachers. Most of these schools still exist as part of the state college system.
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